The Journey of the Wind
by AeroShifty
Summary: Begins at the start of Book 3. A young airbender and his strange companion makes their way across an Earth Kingdom in turmoil. New weapons of war are showing up in the hands of Republic City's triads. Clashes between spirits and humans are occurring left and right. Rumors of a vengeful spirit leave a trail of bodies in their wake. The Red Lotus only stokes the fire. Mostly OC cast.
1. Chapter 1: A Tale of Two Dirt Bikes

**So I've had this idea for quite a while and have refined it to the point where I would like to start writing the whole thing. After hitting a wall on another project, I wanted to try writing something else that might flow easier.**

* * *

~Chapter 1: A Tale of Two Motorcycles~

Two dirt bikes raced down the main road of an Earth Kingdom village. The man piloting the front bike is a rather worried looking earth bender who is turning in his seat trying to earthbend. Chasing him, are a man and a woman on the second bike. Villagers clear the street as the motorcyclists fly through the village at top speed.

"Left!" The man on the second bike shouted an instant before a pillar of stone rose up in front of them. The woman sitting in front of him deftly maneuvered to the left, around the pillar.

"I know!" She shouted back As her black hair flew into the man's face behind her. "PLEH!" He spat the hair out of his mouth and leaned around her. The woman had green eyes and long black hair and was wearing the clothes of an inconspicuous Earth Kingdom commoner. Behind her sat a man with short brown hair and grey eyes. He was wearing leather boots, lightweight olive-green pants and shirt, various leather armoring, a light cloak on top, and a wooden sword in a sheath across his back.

They continued the chase as the two motorcycles sped out of the village and down a winding road along a dry ravine. The earthbender twisted around in his seat to throw up another column of stone.

"On the right!" The man continued to shout warnings to the woman in front of him. Despite his warning, the woman drifted the bike over to the right side of the path, the very spot where a pillar of earth was erupting from the ground. The bike flew into the air as it careened off of the rising stone. The pair clung to the bike as it began to turn and roll. Before the bike became completely inverted, the man on the back released his grip and shot two steams of air from his hands on either side of the bike, straightening it out the instant before it landed.

"Come on, Fei!" "Come on, Kal!" The man and woman both shouted respectively. "You _said_ to go right!" She accused as she maneuvered around more obstacles set in place by the earthbender.

"No, I said it's coming from the right!" He retorted as he sent jets of air forward trying to knock down the motorcycle in front of them. The ravine to their left bent back on itself in a long curve up ahead and a bridge could be seen on the other end.

"Fei, you keep chasing him. I'll cut the corner and head him off at the bridge okay?" The man said as he put his hands through two loops on either side of his cloak and spread his arms. Fei began to protest at being left to a high speed chase with a dangerous earthbender alone, but she was already alone as the man had already begun soaring over the ravine.

"KALDEN, YOU IDIOT!" She shouted at his retreating form, narrowly missing another stone obstacle.

_Wow, she is NOT pleased with that maneuver._ Said a voice in Kalden's mind.

"Oh, she'll be fine. She IS a top notch spy-lady after all." Kalden retorted as he reached the other side of the ravine and continued to glide as fast as he could to the bridge.

_Kalden, most spies aren't trained for fighting, _especially _not rebel spy-ladies. The cross-training back on the island is relatively special in that regard._

"Really?"

_Yup._

"Well, she seems like the type who can handle herself. I'm sure she'll be fine." Kalden said dismissively.

* * *

"FLYING HOG MONKEYS!" Fei shouted as the wheels on the dirt bike slammed back to Earth. The front wheel was slightly bent, causing vibrations and disconcerting sounds to come from the bike. The gap between Fei and her quarry had widened, but she was simply grateful that the earthbender was too panicked to realize he could easily stop and defeat his pursuer.

"If I make it through the day Kal, I'm gonna make sure you live just long enough to regret this." She muttered as she opened up on the throttle and sped after the earthbender.

* * *

"No, I'm sure she'll appreciate my confidence in her abilities." Kalden said aloud as he stood in a fighting pose at the end of the bridge, his wooden sword still sheathed.

_Kalden, I'm pretty sure she's more concerned about her well-being. If anything, she'll probably resent you for abandoning her. _The voice continued in the same condescending tone as always.

"I'm not abandoning her, it's a solid plan! Besides, what do you know?" Kaiden scoffed. "Etka would have understood."

_I have more than 10,000 years of wisdom and experience. You are a mercenary with less than twenty and far too little life-experience for your age. Also, almost everyone on that island has the same warped view of the world that you do, especially Etka. _The voice continued to lecture.

"A PRACTICAL view!" Kalden said defensively, "And as for '10,000 years of wisdom' how much of that was spent sitting on a perch in the temple? I'll have to agree about Etka though, she is certainly..." His voice trailed off as he tried to find the right word.

_Violent? Volatile? Crazy?_

"Yes, yes, and definitely yes." A grin broke out on Kalden's face. "Even after we save everybody and sort out that mess, she'll probably still be out for my blood. That girl just cannot..." He cut off his sentence as the two bikes rapidly approached the opposite end of the bridge. "Alright Beifeng, it's time for you to shut up, and the talent to get to work." He readied himself to intercept the motorcycle.

The very same motorcycle that soon passed the bridge and continued speeding down the road on the opposite side of the ravine.

Kalden clenched his teeth. "Don't. Say. Any-"

_SOLID PLAN, O TALENTED ONE!_

* * *

Fei continued to tail the earthbender, who had become increasingly more erratic. He was constantly looking over his shoulder and twisting his torso around in an attempt to earth bend and drive the motorcycle at the same time.

Her anger had turned into worry after they passed the bridge. Kalden may be able to glide over the ravine, but he couldn't catch up to the motorcycles. He was officially out of the playing field.

Meaning Fei had to find a way to take down the earthbender without killing him by herself, with no bender for backup and a stun baton as her sole weapon. She may be one of the best sparring partners back at the camp, but holds and throws don't do much to flying boulders.

Just as the ravine was about to turn to the right again, causing them to face the same way as before entering the large curve with the bridge, the earthbender's bike gave a loud crash as it slammed into a pothole at top speed. Having been trying to earth bend behind him at the time, he couldn't react fast enough to prevent the bike from going out of control. The bike fell on its side and slid toward the edge of the ravine. The rider attempted to slow the bike down with earth bending and stop himself from going over the cliff. He managed to slow it to a near stop just shy of the cliff edge.

And that's when Fei smashed her bike into the rear of his seat, missing the earth bender by inches. At the same time as the other bike hit the pothole, the front wheel on Fei's motorcycle decided it wanted to try to part ways with the rest of the machine. Her bike went careening into her quarry's, pushing him over the edge and sending her over the handlebars and out into space.

About a quarter of the way down the edge of the cliff, the battered earthbender managed to fall onto a shelf. Fei, on the other hand, had been thrown we'll away from the cliff face and had no such hopes. She fell with her face looking up at the sky, hearing nothing but the deafening roar of the air rushing pat her. Even though Fei thought that she was going to die because of some stupid mercenary's mistake, she found herself hoping that Kalden would at least be able to stop the earth bender from escaping. She had been prepared to die on this mission, but the thought of dying in vain made her furious.

Suddenly, Fei found herself wondering why she hadn't hit the ground yet. The ravine wasn't that deep, was it? She then realized that she could feel herself slowing, as if she had jumped into a pool instead of fallen into a canyon. She could still hear the deafening wind, but looking at the canyon wall revealed that she had slowed to the point where she should hardly be hearing wind at all.

"Hey Fei! Nice job keeping the pressure on him. Though pushing him off the cliff was a little much." Kalden gave Fei a grin as she landed in his arms at the bottom of the ravine. Fei gave him a confused look for a moment before hitting him in the face and dropping out of his grip and onto her feet.

"Gahhhh! What was that for!?" Kalden said as he tried to stem the flow of blood from his recently injured nose.

_Way to go, charmer._

"You almost got ME killed and let HIM get away!" Fei shouted back at him.

"I saved you!"

"I wouldn't have needed saving if YOU hadn't flown off!"

_I hate to say I told you so..._

"Alright! Point taken! But did you have to give me a bloody nose before the fight?" Kalden complained in an exasperated voice.

Fei stopped just as she was about to dish out more verbal abuse and gave a confused look. "What fight?"

"Well he knows he can't get away now, right?" Kalden gestured toward the two twisted heaps of metal that had once been motorcycles while working on his nosebleed. "In fact, I expect he'll-" Kalden was cut short as he quickly deflected a rock that was sailing toward his head with a blast of air. The earth bender began sliding down the wall of the ravine on a block of stone, launching a barrage of boulders on his way down. Kalden and Fei dived for cover in opposite directions.

"Remember, Kal, we need him alive!" Fei shouted from behind a rock, pulling her baton out of her pocket. Unlike Fei, Kalden had found no rocks large enough to use as cover and resorted to weaving and parrying the boulders away from him.

"Sit tight, I got this!" Kalden glanced over at Fei with the baton in her hand. The earth bender reached the bottom of the ravine and snarled as he raised a chest high wall in front of him. Kalden dashed forward, determined to get as close to his opponent as possible.

Pillars of stone shot out of the ground at Kalden's feet. He stepped around two, three pillars. He was only fifteen yards from the earth bender. WHAM! A disc flew off the top of a pillar and struck Kalden square in the chest knocking the wind out of him and sending him sprawling backwards.

_I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar._

"SHUT UP!" Kalden seethed through clenched teeth. He was pretty sure his rib was broken, and Beifeng's taunting was straining his nerves.

Kalden regained his footing and charged at the earth bender once again. This time, he kicked off a pillar and rose into the air, sharply jabbing blasts of air over the earthen wall. The earth bender had to duck down to keep his footing as Kalden advanced.

Using his momentum as he fell to the ground, Kalden sent a long jet of air at the wall, causing it to whither. The earth bender leapt away from the wall and kicked two stones toward Kalden. Kalden effortlessly dodged around the rocks and began throwing combinations back at the earth bender. Instead of dodging, the earth bender widened his stance and began throwing as many punches as he could toward his opponent.

Gusts of air and shards of rock flew in every direction as neither man evaded or ceased their flurry of blows. Both men were injured, and while Kalden was very well conditioned, you never want to get into a contest of endurance with an earth bender. Kalden knew full well that he couldn't keep this up, even as his blows were becoming increasingly outnumbered by his opponent's. Kalden began to resort to weaving his body to avoid the earth bender's blows.

_What are you doing? We both know you can't keep this up. Use your legs!_

"Maybe you just need to pay more attention." Kaiden muttered between breaths. Kalden could feel Beifeng's confusion for just a moment.

"AARGH!" The earth bender stiffened as he let out a yell. Fei had jabbed her baton into the massive earth bender's armpit, causing his muscles to seize up. With no flying rocks to obstruct it, a thin jet of air hit the earth bender right in the jaw. Fei backed away as the man stumbled and Kalden charged forward, clearing several yards with each bound.

_Ah. Well played._

Desperate and shaken, the earth bender hurled a boulder at the rapidly approaching Kalden. He dropped low and slid feet first towards the earth bender, sending a blast of air that swept the feet out from under his opponent. Hitting the ground face-down, the earth bender quickly rolled away from Kalden and began to raise a wall between them.

But Kalden was already on top of him. Kalden flipped over the wall as it rose up and blasted the earth bender against the other side before he could regain his footing. He landed within arm's reach of the stunned earth bender and widened his stance. Before the earth bender could react, Kalden began delivering a series of short hooks to his face. Twisting his body back and forth and focusing air pressure at his fists, Kalden pummeled the earth bender with a barrage of devastating blows.

Pinned against the wall and unable to defend himself any longer, the earth bender's head snapped to the left and right until, mercifully, Kalden's left hook knocked the earth bender off his feet and slammed him into the ground.

_Good job. Not very graceful for an air bender though..._

He took deep, labored breaths as he stood over the unconscious earth bender. With blood still trickling from his nose, he looked up to see Fei peering around the wall the earth bender had just been pinned against.

"I'd say something about going overboard," Fei nudged the fallen earth bender with her foot, as if to make sure he was unconscious, "but he deserved it." Kalden's breath began to return to normal as he stared down at the earth bender's bleeding and badly bruised face.

"Sooooo... How are we getting him back to the camp?"

* * *

"Whoa, what happened to your nose?" Ryu asked as he chained the earth bender to the floor of a covered truck. "Did this guy do that?"

Thankfully, their contacts, Ryu and Ling, had the presence of mind to follow Fei and Kalden after seeing them tear through the town. Dragging the earth bender's unconscious body up the cliff would have been an ordeal, even with a healthy rib cage.

"What, is it bleeding again?" Kalden asked, inspecting his nose with his hand for the first time since the fight.

"No, um..." Ryu realized that he shouldn't have brought the topic up.

"I broke your nose, Kal." Fei explained as she hopped into the truck and sat next to Ryu.

_Ha!_

Unable to come up with a retort, Kalden sighed and silently took a seat opposite Ryu and Fei, who were busy high-fiving as Ryu congratulated her. After closing the tailgate, Ryu tapped Ling on the shoulder, who was sitting behind the wheel at the front of the truck.

"Let's head out." He said as Ling started the motor. It wasn't long before the earth bender had woken up and realized he was in chains.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." Fei taunted as the prisoner glanced around the inside of the truck. After tugging on the chains for a bit and inspecting his injuries under the watchful eye of his three captors, the prisoner accepted the futility of trying to escape.

"Are you taking me back to Varrick?" He asked, his voice implying he already knew the answer.

"Yup, and then we'll find out every little thing you told the Earth Queen about us." Fei said venomously.

Dejected, the earth bender stared at the floor for a while. Eventually, he turned his swollen face to Kalden, who was leaning back with his eyes closed.

"What are you?!" He finally shouted after staring at Kalden for a few minutes. "How can you be an air bender?"

Kalden opened his eyes and looked around the truck. While silence hung in the air, it was clear that Fei was very interested in this turn of conversation and Ryu was still processing what he had just heard.

"Actually," Fei spoke up, "I was wondering the same thing myself. I knew you were an air bender, but no one ever told me how."

"Wait, your'e actually an air bender?!" Ryu exclaimed, "I thought you were all little kids!"

_May as well tell them. We have a few hours to kill._

Kalden leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Well, that is an exciting tale. One that started on that fateful day, almost 200 years ago..."

* * *

**Thanks for taking the time to read through all of that, guys. I'm not sure the other chapters will be quite that long. Next up, backstory time!**


	2. Chapter 2: Trucks, Chains and Story Time

**Flashback time! I was really debating whether to start the story here and move linearly or flashback like I am now. I'm still not sure which would be the better way to introduce the characters, so please feel free to send me some feedback.**

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**~Chapter 2~**

"What a load of monkey feathers!" Fei expressed her disbelief, the prisoner's face betrayed a similar line of thinking, and Ryu simply seemed annoyed that Fei interrupted the story.

"Pipe down and I'll explain! Spirits, you'd think I could get one sentence out before I get interrupted!" Raising his voice hurt his ribs, but there was no way Kalden was going to sit this out in silence.

_Nice hook, now they're **really** curious_.

"As I was saying," Kalden gave Fei a look of blame. "It all started on a small island near the Fire Nation over 150 years ago..."

* * *

Kalden shielded his eyes for a moment as he stepped out of his barracks and into the bright light of mid-morning. While he would normally be very accustomed to waking up earlier in the morning, the graduation party had kept him awake far later than he should have been.

Thankfully, he was no longer subject to the strict discipline of the instructors, but Kalden still planned on keeping some of the better habits that had been drilled into him. Today was quite the special day. He would receive his own personal quarters, his first assignment, and his uncle was due to arrive around noon. Walking across the stone-tiled courtyard of the temple where his quarters resided and made toward the exit.

The wind was sharp as he descended the long staircase built into the side of Temple Hill. Kalden recalled the countless times he had been made to run up and down these steps in the last ten years. A feat that had left his eight year old self exhausted for the entire day now felt so simple. The wind on Kazeki Island was always blowing, at least a little, but the Temple Hill steps were like being in a hurricane every day.

Happily, Kalden was a bit more sheltered from the wind by his new cloak. Fitted to double as a wing suit, the cloak was lightweight with the image of a kite shield with the symbol for air bending on it like a coat of arms on his back. Cloaks like this one were made by mothers and presented to all of the air bender graduates.

A few townsfolk congratulated him as they passed on their way up the stairs. He quickly answered them for politeness' sake and entered the town. The stairs led straight onto the main road that stretched through the village all the way to the shore. Kalden had promised to go to Pemma's house before his Uncle Lang returned and he was running late.

Kalden stopped in front of a small cottage with a woman hanging clothes outside.

"Hey, Pemma!" Kalden put on his happiest face. Pemma was the closest person he had to a mother since he came here, the least he could do was act cheerful around her. Pemma turned and greeted him with a warm smile of her own. The woman was in her mid-thirties, with the face of a twenty year old and the wisdom of an eighty year old.

"Good morning, Kal." Pemma responded, "That cloak definitely suits you." Pemma gave a grin as she complimented her own handiwork at the same time as Kalden. "Lang will be proud when he sees you in that cloak."

Kalden gave a grunt off agreement and looked slightly downwards. He never could handle praise well, especially from Pemma.

"Oh, stop that! You deserve every ounce of pride we all have for you. You're still my little gray-eyed prodigy." Pemma knew exactly how well Kalden handled praise, but that never stopped her. "For the past ten years, all I've heard in the village is how you're the best student that the instructors have ever had." Pemma paused to let Kalden respond, but he simply mumbled something and avoided her gaze.

"Alright, Kal, I'll stop it. C'mon, finish up the laundry while I go fetch something." Pemma turned around and stepped into the cottage, leaving Kalden to airbend a breeze to dry the clothes faster.

* * *

"Get on with it!" An exasperated Fei shouted, "We want answers, not stories about your daily life!" Judging by their expressions, Fei and the prisoner were once again of the same mind. Ryu, on the other hand, once again sided with Kalden.

"It's called context!" Ryu spoke up before Kalden could answer, "We have a long drive ahead of us, and he's setting up for the emotional impact later on. Didn't you ever listen to stories when you were a kid?"

Wow, your story was so boring it's sowing discord among your comrades.

"No! When I asked questions I got answers, not entertainment!" Fei was becoming more and more impatient.

Ryu snorted and leaned back in his seat. "You just don't appreciate life at all, do you?"

_Oooh... now they're making it personal. You better do something or we're all in for a terrible trip._

"SHUT UP!" Kalden ground his teeth in annoyance and pain. Beifeng's snarky comments were only aggravating him more. "Alright, I'll give you the short version! Just please stop shouting!" Silently, Kalden wondered how Varrick's group had managed to survive when its members were this dysfunctional.

Fei and Ryu both settled down. Despite differences of opinion, they both wanted answers.

"Alright, so this day I've been describing was not only the day after my graduation, but the day Firelord Sozin tried to exterminate all of the airbenders." Kalden began to lead into his story once again. "My uncle, Lang and his pal, Katsu came back from their trip to the Fire Nation..."

"Excuse me," Kalden looked down at the interrupting prisoner still chained to the bed of the truck. "What kind of academy are you talking about?"

Kalden was a bit surprised by the question. "Really?" He looked at the prisoner incredulously, "I drop the whole genocide and 200 year-old bit and the first thing you ask about is my education?"

Unable to think of a response, the prisoner simply nodded.

"Yeah, come to think of it, I've never heard of any Kazeki Island, much less one full of airbenders." Ryu added skeptically.

Kalden let out a small sigh. This trip was going to involve a lot more talking than he'd thought. "All right, background first." Kalden took a deep breath and began rattling off information. "Kazeki island was a small island in the Southern Fire Nation. An air bender named Kavi became fed up with the pacifistic lifestyle of the Air Nomads after seeing all of the horrors that bickering kings and noblemen would bring down upon their citizens. He became a traveling warrior, dealing out justice and asking for nothing more than a bowl of rice in return. He gained a following of people from every nation, though the majority were air benders who shared his ideals."

Kalden paused to take another deep breath, but continued before anyone could interrupt.

"Eventually, Kavi traveled to Kazeki Island and discovered that the wind spirit lived there in the form of a hawk. He struck a deal with the spirit, he would allow us to settle his island and we would build a shrine and protect him. Years later, I graduated from the grueling process that is attending the academy there where you learn not only how to fight in every way imaginable, but how to deal with politics and logistics and anything else that could possibly be of use for our duties. The reason why you've never heard about the island or the exploits of its inhabitants is because of the circumstances surrounding the aforementioned genocide." Kalden ceased talking and took measured breaths.

A moment came and went without anyone saying a word.

"I don't think I got all that. It wasn't very engaging." Fei was the first to speak up. Kalden silently agreed with her and didn't feel the need to say anything defensive. Ryu, on the other hand, decided to get defensive for him.

"Yeah, it's called an exposition dump, and that's what you get when you don't let a guy tell his story." Ryu clearly enjoyed a good story and it didn't seem likely he would forgive Fei during the course of their trip.

"Anyway," Kalden interjected before Fei could respond. "I'll skip to the important parts."

* * *

Kalden kept as quiet as possible as he hid in the rafters above the meeting room. Lang and Katsu were standing next to each other addressing the two airbender captains and each water, fire, and earth captain, with Kavi sitting in the middle, a hawk perched on his shoulder.

"Half-a-dozen transports and ten escorts. They'll be here by noon." Lang reported. "Normally I'd say it wouldn't be enough for an invasion, but..."

"The Great Comet." The ancient looking old man sitting cross-legged on the floor finished Lang's sentence.

"Could they be headed for the South Pole or the Earth Kingdom? We've always been on good terms with the Fire Nation." Katsu suggested hopefully.

There was a moment of silence as nobody spoke the answer that they all knew to be the truth. The hawk on Kavi's shoulder rustled and made a hissing sound.

"Firelord Sozin's been slipping ever since the avatar died. I wouldn't be surprised if he started seeing us as a threat. He..." Lang stopped short as something clicked in his mind.

"The Avatar." Kavi finished Lang's thought for the second time. "We knew he was preparing to attack the Earth Kingdom, but it seems he's going after the air benders first." The old man let out a sigh. "He wants to use the comet to take the Avatar and the air benders out of the picture in a single stroke. This is exactly the sort of thing that made me take up the sword in the first place."

Katsu's face was filled with betrayal. "Does this mean the rumors were true? Did Sozin really kill Roku? How could the Firelord do such damage to his nation's honor?"

"Because he's lost his marbles. I've been saying it for years." Lang responded gruffly. "The why doesn't really matter now. If we evacuate all the air benders, I doubt they'll leave the rest of us alone. We're going to have a fight whether we like it or not."

The hawk on Kavi's shoulder clacked its beak and made a nodding motion. The old man turned to the bird and said something inaudible.

"Old man, I suggest we send out some sky bison and try to engage their fleet out on the water, before the comet arrives." Lang addressed Kavi with confidence in his voice.

The old man let out another tired sigh. "I suppose we have no other choice. Kalden! Come down here." He commanded without looking up.

While startled at first, Kalden wasn't particularly surprised by the old man calling out to him. He dropped down to the floor and faced Kavi, purposely avoiding the smug look being worn by his uncle.

"Um... Yes, sir?" He asked apprehensively.

Kavi stood up, leaning on his staff as he rose onto his frail legs.

"Kalden, I want you to round up all of the new graduates and cadets and have them lead all the civilians into the caverns, make sure to take as many supplies as you can as well. We may be facing a siege." The old man's tone had grown very serious and commanding as he rambled out decisive orders with surprising speed. "As for the rest of you, I want the earthbenders and the second airbender group here for defense. Fortify the beaches and the entrance to the caverns. The remaining fire, water, and air benders will follow Lang and Katsu to where the enemy fleet is and try to catch them before the comet."

The room was silent for a moment as the different captains and lieutenants processed their orders.

Kavi slammed the bottom of his staff against the ground. "**NOW!**" His voice boomed throughout the room as everyone bolted out of the room and began to assemble their men. Just as Kalden began to rush off toward the barracks, Kavi grabbed his arm.

"Kalden, take Bei Feng with you into the caverns. It is your duty to protect him at all costs." The hawk on Kavi's shoulder promptly hopped over to Kalden's outstretched arm.

"I will, sir." Kalden didn't know what was so important about the bird, but if he had learned one thing in his ten year stay on his island it was that you trust the old man. That, and the hawk's talons were not made any less sharp by his clothes. As Kalden ran outside, he heard someone sounding the huge gong at the top of the hill, signalling that the island was in a state of emergency.

* * *

Kalden's voice trailed off as he sat silently for a moment in the back of the truck.

_It would probably be best to leave me out of your story. At least the part about me being here right now. You never know how some people might react._

All three members of his audience leaned in slightly with expectant looks in their eyes. After another moment with nothing to be heard but the truck's engine the three of them had reached the end of their patience.

Fortunately, so Kalden thought, Ryu was the first to speak up. "What happened, why'd you stop?"

Fei and the prisoner both followed suit with Ryu.

"Sorry." Kalden apologized, "I just got lost in thought for a second."

"Well don't just stop! You've only given us more questions!" Fei complained.

"Yeah, you can't just stop talking right before the Fire Nation attacks!" Ryu agreed.

"Hey!" Kalden shouted defensively, "It's some heavy stuff, show some respect okay! It may be ancient history to you, but to me this happened weeks ago!"

_Ha! After going through all the trouble to stop them from fighting they just gang up on you. I always told Kavi that it was foolish to butt in to so many people's problems._

After seeing that his audience backed down and was ready to listen again, Kalden continued, his voice much more grim than before. "The truth is that I really don't know what happened in the battle. The fleet could have split up, the attack team could have been completely destroyed, or they simply never saw each other. All I know is that Fire Nation ships showed up at the beach when the comet arrived and they drove us back into the caverns..."

* * *

The underwater obstacles had failed. The earthbenders had managed to keep the ships from landing, but the firebenders that were suped up by the comet simply launched themselves onto the shore with their bending. Their opening attack gave them the momentum as none of the defenders were prepared for the **fire**power given by the comet.

Kalden's class and the older cadets were trying to hold the first chamber of the caverns against the firebenders who were working their way through the narrow passage at the entrance. While the cavern was usually only lit by the soft blue glow of the crystals that grew there it was made much brighter by the intense flames spewing out of the entrance. Even underground, the young earthbenders were having trouble stopping the flames, and if not for the efforts of their firebending classmates, everyone in the room would have been scorched by the opening salvo.

Kalden threw himself against the wall of the cave next to the entrance and quickly motioned for his comrades to do the same. After receiving the hand signal for them to be silent, they listened to the rapidly approaching footsteps of the Fire Nation soldiers. Kalden slowly raised his wooden sword above his head, poised to strike at the first man to enter the chamber. As the footsteps grew louder, the young warriors grew ever more tense. Kalden felt beads of sweat roll down his face.

Suddenly, another stream of flame shot through the entrance and spilled into the chamber. The flames spread throughout most of the cavern, but the firebending cadets managed to stop any of the back blast from harming their teammates. Remaining silent, the defenders waited as the flames dissipated and the footsteps resumed.

Finally, an arm clad in red and black armor appeared from the passage followed by the body of a Fire Nation soldier in a readied stance. Kalden let out a bloodcurdling shout as he brought the sword down, airbending a sharp edge along its narrow profile. In what seemed to him as slow motion, he saw the man try to bend only to have the flame in his hand flicker out as it was severed from his body. Were it not for the adrenaline, Kalden probably would have vomited at the sight.

* * *

Kalden exhaled sharply as he quickly brought his hand to his mouth and looked down.

"Kalden, you okay buddy?" Ryu asked with concern.

Kalden nodded and regained his composure. "Yeah, it's fine."

* * *

The soldier let out a panicked yell and stepped back as Kalden flung himself across the entrance, bringing his sword back up in a diagonal slash. The move cut a gash across the man's chest and sent him stumbling backwards. Kalden barely made it clear of the entrance before another, even stronger, flame enveloped the room.

"Collapse the tunnel!" One of the earthbenders shouted. They tried to bring the roof of the tunnel down upon the heads of the firebenders inside, but they must have predicted this and moved back further down the passage. It wasn't long before another blast of fire broke through the collapsed earth and entered into the room.

This pattern continued on for what seemed like an eternity. The Fire Nation Soldiers would be pushed back, only to send more fire down the tunnel. While they were managing to prevent being burned by the flames, the temperature of the air had risen to the point that Kalden was amazed that no one had suffered a stroke yet.

Just when Kalden had begun to think that they might have lasted until the comet passed, the soldiers broke through. They had located the point above ground that was directly above the new graduates and caused part of the ceiling to collapse using either explosives or just powerful firebending. Either way, soldiers, rubble, and fire soon filled the entire chamber.

Kalden attempted to block a blast of fire but was simply thrown against the wall of the cave, his sword practically exploding and his arms completely scorched. Dazed, Kalden slumped to the floor and gazed helplessly at the horror that was unfolding in front of him. Though they put up a brave fight, his comrades were completely wiped out by the suddenness and ferocity of the Fire Nation's attack.

Barely conscious, Kalden watched as a soldier stood over him and poised to deliver the final blow as the rest secured the chamber and began to explore the passage to where the civilians were taking shelter. Kalden looked into the eyes of the man standing over him and thought he might have seen sympathy behind them. That was when he heard the screech of a hawk.

Turning his head slightly, Kalden was able to see Bei Feng clawing at the face of the firebender who had tried to enter into the next passage. The man struggled, trying to throw off the bird, only succeeding when it decided to switch targets and attack the man standing over Kalden.

"I can't see!" The first soldier shouted in panic as he held his face in his hands.

"Get off!" The man standing over Kalden slammed his flame covered fist into Bei Feng, slamming him into the wall causing him to fall next to Kalden. The man was distracted by the wounds that Bei Feng had inflicted on his face, allowing Kalden a little time to act. Feeling blood trickle down his forehead, Kalden fought through the haze that had entered his mind, reaching out to Bei Feng with his burnt arm. He could almost hear the bird calling out to him. The moment that his fingertips touched the bird's feathers, Kalden took his last breath...

* * *

"SERIOUSLY! You made that whole thing up didn't you?" Fei shouted.

"What do you mean 'took your last breath,' how could you have died?!" Ryu exclaimed.

The prisoner seemed to have given up on the story and simply seemed bored at this point.

Kalden held up his palms and explained in a calm voice. "... or so I thought."

"Oh, come on! What a cheap misdirect!" Ryu was clearly unsatisfied. "Stop trying to sound cool."

"Alright, alright, I get it." Kalden conceded, "Anyway, when I woke up, I was in the Spirit World. I was on a small island in the middle of a lake. The only other thing on the island was a giant blue crystal that gave off the same glow that the ones below Kazeki island did."

_Remember, as far as their concerned I didn't come with you._

"All I could remember from when I was out was hearing Bei Feng tell me that everyone has been trapped inside that thing this entire time and that the Avatar was the most likely person to be able to get them all out." Kalden finished, his tone implying that he knew nothing more.

Fei's mind worked quickly and came up with a barrage of questions. "How did you get out?"

"I guess Bei Feng could only release one person." He responded.

"But why you specifically?" She continued.

"Because I was touching him?"

"Why did he wait so long to let you out?"

"Before harmonic convergence, I would have been trapped in the spirit world. Even with the portals, it took me days to get out of there." Kalden replied a bit more firmly.

Fei put her hand to her chin and leaned back as if to think up more questions. Ryu, however, spoke up first. "So what are you doing here?"

That question piqued the interest of everyone in the audience, even the prisoner's attention seems to have been brought back.

Kalden leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "Well that's simple, I was on my way to Republic City to find the Avatar when what little stuff I had acquired on my journey got stolen and the queen cracked down on border control. Thanks for that, by the way. Varrick recruited me on the condition that he help me get to Republic City. I figured that this is exactly the job I would be doing normally anyway so I agreed."

Silence filled the air as Fei and Ryu exchanged a quizzical look.

"About Varrick," Fei began to speak, "you know that he's wanted in the United Republic for kidnapping the president and escaping from prison, right?"

Silence once again filled the back of the truck for several moments.

Finally Kalden let out a sigh. "Well, crap."

* * *

**Hey, guys. Sorry if the format was a little confusing this time, I promise it won't be so complicated again. Given all the ideas that I have for these characters, I'm thinking it might be best to use a _Baccano!_ style of storytelling where I have several plots** **that interact with each other over time. I know that it seems hard, but I think I want to give it a try.**

**Once again, please feel free to leave reviews. If you see any problems, please go into as much detail as you can.**


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